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Monthly Archives: March 2015

As we’ve become a more cashless society, it’s almost second nature for business owners to take out a debit card whenever they need to make a quick every day purchase. But what are the security risks of choosing to pay this way?

With credit cards, one can simply dispute any fraudulent charges and not pay the bill. But debit cards take the money directly from your checking account. There are many business purchases that can leave your debit card—and by extension, your business account—vulnerable to security attacks. Following are eight of the riskiest purchases you can make with a debit card.

1. Buying online. Any online purchases can leave your business account open to hackers. This is true not only of strictly online companies, such as Amazon—which puts significant effort into their cyber-security, but traditional stores with an online presence as well, such as poorly protected Target and Home Depot.

2. Delayed delivery and merchant disputes. Federal law gives you 48 hours from the time a charge is made to dispute it. But business transactions can sometimes be pending for a significantly longer window of time. Because you may not have physically received the item at your business yet, or it’s damaged when it finally does arrive, too much time will have passed and it becomes much more difficult to ever recoup the loss.

3. Expensive big-ticket items. Many credit card companies offer additional warranties and insurance, as well as added protection against an item not showing up or working incorrectly. Debit cards do not offer this same level of protection, which is necessary when buying expensive electronics or renting a car.

4. Dining out. When you’re at a restaurant for a business lunch, the server may take your debit card out of your line of sight, opening the door for fraudulent activity. Restaurants also assume you’ll leave a tip, so they authorize your card for more than your bill, freezing your funds until that larger amount clears.

5. Outdoor ATMs. Need to withdraw a few smaller bills for your register outside of regular bank hours? Outdoor ATMs are unmonitored most of the time, so it’s easy for someone to add a “skimmer” to the card reader. It looks like a regular card reader, but it’s storing your card data for cyber thieves.

6. Future travel. Similar to delayed delivery, your card may be charged well in advance of your business trip. Hotels will often store card data for months before your actual travel dates, leaving your account vulnerable.

7. Gas stations. This is another location where it’s really easy to add a skimmer to a legitimate card reader. Be careful of how you choose to pay at the pump while on traveling for business.

8. Recurring payments. We’ve all dealt with memberships that charge obnoxious fees for cancelling a service, whether it’s a magazine, organization membership or similar business expense. It’s much easier to dispute a credit card, and doing so won’t impact your checking account balance.

For transactions such as the ones outline above, a credit card may be a much safer bet—it will leave your business account in tact and provide additional security and protection from potential fraud. After all, the last thing you need as a business owner is a giant headache from your checking account being compromised or your funds being frozen.

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The era of wearable device technology has arrived. In fact, recent studies show that approximately 30 percent of United States smartphone holders already own wearables. As technology continues to advance the development of these personal devices, there will certainly be an increase in more convenient payment options for consumers—and smart retailers are catching on.

Beyond Smartphones: Wearable Tech Offers Payment Convenience

Smartphones already offer a variety of applications capable of swiping cards, processing personal information and recording product metrics. But wearable tech may go even further when it comes to making the payment process more convenient for consumers.

While the impending Apple Watch has invoked much of the interest behind smartwatches, other high-tech wearable gadgets are being developed. For example, Disney already offers guests the ability to pay for items via MagicBand, a colorful bracelet that directly links to a personal credit or debit card. The so-called “Power Suit” allows its wearer to make payments via their clothing sleeve, through use of NFC technology. And many big-league fiscal providers, like Visa, have considered investing in creation of expansive technology to take these processes even further.

This small technological revolution has the potential to redefine the way in which consumers pay for goods and services. And as we anticipate where technology will take us in the near future, all eyes are on the coming Apple Watch and its Apple Pay capabilities.

Time Ticks Down to the Launch of Apple Watch

In recent months, the Apple Watch has single-handedly piqued smartwatch (and wearable tech) interest more so than previous rivals, like the Pebble or Samsung’s Galaxy, ever did.

Although it’s not set to arrive until April 24, the industry buzz is already undeniable. A two-part survey featured on Computerworld reflected a record 8,266 consumers placing higher interest in the Apple Watch than on the “revolutionary” Google Glass.

Tech corporations and industry gurus are taking note, and merchant services may receive a significant boost from the Apple Watch’s high flexibility towards sales processing—especially when it comes to the wearer’s ability to conveniently and quickly use Apple Pay. By offering such flexibility, smartwatches have definitely shifted from mundane “power person” ideology to more practical, professional solutions.

The Optimized Consumer and the Future of Payment Processing

Faster payment processing is always the endgame for retailers, so the wearable trend is a logical next step in attempting to near that goal. When the consumer is waiting in line for a shorter amount time, more payments are being processed, and at quicker rates. At first glance, this may appear as a minimal side effect, but the overall impact of highly optimized sales processing is astounding.

So where will the future take wearable technology and merchant sales? Likely, security will be a conservative pit-stop, as fiscal dealings are historically shaky when new technology arrives. However, if wearable tech is proven to be secure—and, if the industry begins thriving upon the shift towards speed processing—more technology may follow, and it’ll further redefine the industry.

For now, however, the wearable tech trend is still in its relative infancy. We’ll be watching to see where it takes us.

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Insecure Data Storage

An Oswap.org business data breach analysis has figured in the many threats posed against companies utilizing point-of-sale technology. Store-based devices aren’t entirely safe from malware, malicious users or false authentication. Similarly, the following habits can severely compromise a customer’s security at, and after, the register:

The Importance of Employee Training

Task distribution promotes business connectivity, and a well-connected business may further assist its customers. When employees aren’t trained effectively, however, their customer attentiveness may dwindle. Similarly, they may forget or fail to execute vital actions needed for customer safety.

Anyone operating a business register or information database should be capable of utilizing supreme precaution. A negligent employee may not mean to compromise a customer’s information—but poorly trained job skills can absolutely exploit important information.

Credit Card Security

Forgers often utilize fraudulent credit cards and their potential danger should be understood. This primarily affects the business, rather than the consumer. However, anything capable of targeting a business’s secure data infrastructure should be considered a vital security risk to everyone involved.

When examining credit cards for purchases, merchants must remember to check the following:

Valid expiration dates

First four account numbers above the card’s first four numbers

Three-dimensional security hologram

Matching signatures

Fraudulent credit cards can affect a business when high-tech sales processing machinery is forgone, which is why maintaining comprehensive point-of-sale processing is incredibly important.

Remember: The consumer is relatively unprotected during most transactions. While a business actively maintains systems to ensure their own privacy and sustainability, consumers may be exposed. Proper routines, effective employee training and a watchful eye during transactions will not only protect the consumer’s information—it’ll breed a business atmosphere deserving of trust and success.

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Credit card processing will go through major changes this year–but how will the 2015 EMV Compliance Mandate affect your business? The United States is the world’s final market to become EMV compliant. Our adoption and accessibility to the technology will likely transform all industries reliant upon processing payments via credit cards.

What is EMV Compliance, Anyway?

EMV is an acronym meaning “Europay, MasterCard and Visa.” The “big three” of globally standardized circuit payment cards utilize a chip for payments. These chips are used for ATMs, credit card terminals and digital registers. The EMV Compliance Mandate updates these cards’ internal mechanics and any provider using EMV-reading software will need to comply, too.

The New Liability Shift

The EMV Compliance Mandate isn’t just a software update. Its attached Liability Shift may affect your business’s transaction policies. USAVisa.com contains the shift’s entire workings, and, as per their description:

“When a transaction occurs using chip technology, any liability for counterfeit fraud, though unlikely, would follow current Visa Operating Regulations.”

In other words, this shift will greatly reduce your business’s fraud liability, assuming your software and hardware is up-to-date. If and when fraud occurs, new standards will neutralize losses while protecting you from liability. Within the financing world, such a shift is incredibly significant: Reduced liability and expenses can be re-balanced and shifted to other business areas.

Fewer Fraud-Related Chargebacks

Historically, credit transaction authentication and completion has been tied to fraudulent chargebacks. However, EMV’s updated technology will reduce fraud-related chargebacks due to the following mechanics:

Increased protection against card skimming

Increased protection from magnetic strips

Dynamic authentication possibilities

Reduced fraud chargebacks similarly boost a company’s ability to reallocate resources. While merchant services should always be treated with high security, EMV compliance will greatly enhance a business’s processing and transaction flexibility and security.

Fewer Data Breaches

As stated above, credit card processing will become increasingly stable and secure via EMV compliance. Participating U.S. merchants will be required to maintain full software and hardware upgrades, too, increasing their edge against data breaches.

The mandate promotes immediate liability focus on the party containing “lesser” technology. In short: A consumer using old EMV technology will be recognized as “at fault” in the event of fraud. This same aspect is directly correlated to the mandate’s facilitation of up-to-date vender technology.

So, on average, companies will maintain higher technology than surrounding entities and consumers. This will add further protection, as the superior technology will likely outrun malicious data breaches. The new EMV technology renders extracted information “useless,” as it’s encrypted to fit a digital format—rather than to a readable, magnetic strip.

Staying Aware: Adapting to the Change

Point-of-sale security is still important, and maintaining a healthy workplace promotes sustainability and protection. To ensure your employees and relevant decision makers are up-to-par with new security standards, it’s important to:

Create a relevant business plan before changing to new technology

Immediately migrate to new EMV standards

Train product awareness

New hardware and software changes may take time for adoption, but supporting network connectivity and internal effectiveness will ensure heightened protection. It’ll put your business ahead of the curve, security wise.

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Share and Enjoy

This week we were on-site at the Suburban Showroom Collection in Novi, MI, as sponsors of the 2015 MGIA Trade Show & Convention. There, we showed off the latest–and affordable–innovations in payment processing. Connect with us to learn how we can help create payment processing solutions right for your business.

Stay updated on payment processing trends by following Abtek on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up to receive our newsletter, too.